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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Stephen Abbott is my third great-granduncle and the brother of my 3X great-grandmother, Sarah K. (Abbott) Capen. He was the son of Aaron & Sarah "Sally" (Abbott) Abbott. Stephen and his wife, Nancy Goddard, and his son, Gilman, are buried in the Capen Cemetery in Bethel, Maine.

Children of Stephen & Nancy (Goddard) Abbott:

Gilman C. Abbott was born on February 5, 1843, and died on August 9, 1856.

Charles Albert Francis Abbott was born on May 14, 1849, and died on March 5, 1919. He married Ella Elizabeth Davis on September 27, 1872 and they are both buried in the Middle Intervale Cemetery, Bethel, Maine.

Flora Nancy Abbott was born in September 1856, and died on May 30, 1928. She married Charles Swan in 1874. The last record I was able to locate for this couple is the 1920 census that shows them living in Greenwood, Maine.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Henry & Edith (Laskin) Herrick are my 10X great-grandparents on both my mother's side and on my father's side of the family. They had eight children. This is a copy of Henry's will and his bequests to his wife and children.

The will of Henry Herrick was proved on March 28, 1671 and contained the following provisions:

to wife Edith, the western half of his dwelling

to son Thomas, wearing apparel, 20 pounds and the land where his house stands

if son John live and die single, the land given him to go to testator's sons Ephraim, Joseph, and Benjamin

to son Zachary, one hundred acres of Birch Plain bought of Francis and Henry Skerry of Salem, sixteen acres where Zachary's house stands

to sons Ephraim, Joseph, and John, the farm bought of Mr. Alford

to ??, the two lots bought of Henry Reynolds of Salem and Richard Kimball of Wenham, also two acres in Bunkard's meadow

to sons Ephraim and Joseph, domestic animals

to son Benjamin, the pasture on the southeast side of the highway at age 21

to daughter Elizabeth, 40 pounds

to son Henry, at wife's death, all the estate bequeathed her

Henry Herrick, Jr., executor

Mr. John Hale & Capt. Thomas Lathrop, overseers

The inventory was completed on March 15, 1671 by John Rayment, Sr. and Isaac Hall, Sr. It totaled 974 pounds, 17 shillings with 804 pounds, 10 shillings being real estate. He also owned a musket, a sword, and a rapier.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

James Freeland, my 7X great-grandfather, was born in the late 17th century in Ireland. However, the Freeland family were Scottish Presbyterians who fled to Ireland to escape persecution. According to The Sutton Freelands: Legends and Lettersby Roy Freeland Stone, in 1718, James Freeland and his family came to Massachusetts and settled in Lexington. His family included a wife, Mary, and four children. One son, Joseph, remained in Scotland. This information is new to me and I'm still trying to track down and verify the details. The History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts places James Freeland and his family in Sutton by 1725. The list of family members agrees with The Sutton Freelands. I have not yet confirmed the fact they lived in Lexington, but the History of Sutton traces the family from Lexington to Hopkinton to Sutton. The book Albion's Seedby David Hackett Fischer estimates that about 200,000 Scots-Irish came to America between 1715 and 1775.

Children of James & Mary Freeland: (order unknown except for the oldest and youngest)

Joseph was born in Dublin, Ireland and remained there when his parents and younger siblings came to Massachusetts. His occupation is listed as barrister.

James was born in Dublin and came to Massachusetts with his parents. He married Sarah Watson on January 8, 1741 in Hopkinton. He lived in Blandford and Brookfield. He married a second time to Elizabeth Wiley, widow of John Thomas of Worcester. They lived in Oxford. he married for a third time, Martha Smith on November 20, 1770. He had children with all three of his wives.

Anna (or Jane) was born in Dublin and came to Massachusetts with her parents. She married Robert Black and lived in Blandford, Massachusetts.

Rachel was born in Dublin and came to Massachusetts with her parents. She married Jonathan Knox on September 28, 1741 in Hopkinton, Massaschusetts and lived in Blandford.

Thomas was born about 1715 probably in Dublin and came to Massachusetts with his parents. He married Mary Nutt (or McNutt) of Hopkinton.